Rejected
by Chiri-tan
Summary: For having the same face as Pharaoh, a young boy named Yugi had to be banished away from the capital to live a life as an exile in the Valley of the Kings. The young boy started new life with the other exiles, and he actually didn't think that he'd get to be the life partner of the craziest exile there, Marik. Crossshipping. And also Blindshipping/Puzzleshipping. AU
1. Valley of the Kings

**Rejected.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Valley of the Kings.**

It all happened so fast and so abrupt that Yugi really had no idea what was going on.

He and his grandpa were just tidying up to open the pub. Since it was the new Pharaoh's coronation, things were bound to get rowdy with everyone celebrating. And they also just had gotten supplies from the palace, also the courtesy of the new Pharaoh, before one of the six High Priests barged to their still-closed pub.

"Oh, oh! Seth-sama!" Solomon said as both he and Yugi kneeled. The older man then stood up and bowed. "What can I help you with?" Grandpa had said.

Yugi kept his gaze low on the ground. He didn't like this man's domineering aura, it made him shiver. And it was hard enough for he and his family to be here since they got white skin for not being a native Egyptian.

Mutou Family once consisted of Solomon Mutou, Kaze Mutou, Hitomi Mutou, and he, Yugi Mutou. But after a boat ride gone wrong, his parents died and the remaining Mutou men was drifted ashore to Egypt.

At first, nobody liked them. They scorned them, jeered at them, and threw rocks at them. But Yugi and his grandfather persevered, always showing kindness to whoever needs them, and eventually, the townsmen accepted them. There was no one in town that didn't know the Mutou Pub since it was so cheap and fun there.

High Priest Seth looked around the store, probably trying to find faults in it. When he found none, he took a deep breath and spoke. "You there," his tone was directed the small boy, nobody else. "Stand up and rise your head." Yugi quivered. But he did as ordered by standing up shakily, fearing the man's gaze.

Yugi bit his lowered lip and let his head up, directly facing the tall Egyptian man's face. Blue eyes peered down coldly at his small and fragile stature. "He has pale skin and he's also smaller, but it's _there _nonetheless…" Seth mumbled to himself. "U-um, what is wrong with my grandson?" Solomon put both his hands on top of Yugi's shoulders, grasping it worryingly.

"Capture him!" About like five men came in and restrained Yugi, blinding him and gagging him as he tried to ask why this was happening. "WHY? Why is this happening? YUGI!" His grandpa was shouting. He could feel chains on his hands as he heard a voice of something being knocked down.

"Your grandson has the same face as the Pharaoh, we can't risk his existence. He might be an imposter." With that, he was taken away.

And now, here he was, in the middle of nowhere with nothing but himself.

Yugi walked and walked and walked and walked. But there was nothing, nothing at all, he was scared. It was then that the heat got to him and he tumbled down. As his consciousness drifted away, he could hear a voice on top of him.

"A new exile? Hell yes!"

* * *

"You know, Marik, it is a rule in this town that every exile had to have a life partner!" Ishizu sighed at her youngest sibling. Unlike Malik who already found his life partner (Odion obviously) Marik hadn't.

Life partner: it was included in the only letter that arrived from the palace to their village. It said that the Pharaoh already knew the existence of the exile village and if they want to survive, they will have to establish a rule where everyone had to had a life partner to share their pain and suffering. And Pharaoh himself will come once a year to check if it was maintained.

Some of them considered this a blessing; some of them felt like it were a curse.

The truth was, there was a sinister nature of this rule. If during the yearly visits, Pharaoh liked one of the pairs, they will be taken to the palace as slaves. It could be anything, labor slaves, or pleasure slaves. And the most horrible one was if the pair was forced to make love for viewing pleasures. It sickened her, but she had no choice but to enforce it, as the current Matriarch of the town.

"That rule is so useless, most honorable sister _(1)_." Marik sighed. He threw away his face as the blue-eyed woman tattled on him. "It's not useless! You see how Odion and Malik are, right?" Ishizu rambled. The younger boy clicked his tongue. "Even if I do want a life partner, who wants me as their life partner? Besides, Kisara hadn't found her life partner and you don't tattle at her."

"Kisara is a different case! Unlike us, the one she wanted as a life partner would also be her husband so she needed to choose carefully." The woman knew that these arguments were useless against Marik, who knew the _true _nature of life partnering.

Every year, a pair of partners from their village would be the one who served the Pharaoh on his yearly visits. Everyone considered it as an honor, and if the Pharaoh liked the pair, they would be taken to the palace to be servants there. But Marik knew the truth; in fact, he was the only one besides Ishizu who knew. And he also found out that once the pair bored the Pharaoh, they would be killed as a criminal. That was why nobody ever returned.

"Ugh, Marik, I want you to go and find a life partner! Or anyone who would be a suitable candidate in a week! If not, I will assign your life partner for you." Marik seethed. "Most honorable sister, I-"

"No excuses!"

Marik threw the refreshments on the table and left the room in anger. He bumped into Malik, who greeted him, but he only grunt in return and left the house in sheer anger.

He hated the Pharaoh for exiling his family just because Ishizu looked like one of the High Priests. And he pretty much hated everyone that feared him. Okay so he got violent outbursts at times, but he couldn't help it. That was just how he was. The only people he actually liked were Ishizu, Malik (but he loathed Odion, because that bastard always looked at him like he was a pitiful person), and Kisara. The others in the village were dead afraid of him. How could he find a life partner in a week in those circumstances?

"Damn it!" He shouted, and he forgot that he was in the middle of the village. His face twisted in sheer displeasure as everyone looked terrified of him. Damn damn damn damn! He ran away as fast as he could.

When he actually felt tired, he was already a few miles away from the town. He always had a good stamina. But he never tried running away from the town before. "Fuck I ran too much." He scratched the back of his head. His hands were sweating as he touched his own messy hair.

Suddenly he felt a shadow casted upon him. There was a person… walking towards him. But then, the person fell down to the ground.

Marik was many things, but kind was definitely not one of them. But he was curious so he walked closer to the person.

The person was a young one, and his extremely weird hair features multiple layers including long blond crooked, pointy locks for his fringe, the rest features a set of five large spikes and two smaller spikes colored black with a magenta sheen along the edges, it was _so fucking weird_. And yet it was beautiful. The boy's skin was pearly white, much like Kisara's own. Did this guy get exiled for the same reason as Kisara? For having a weird colored skin?

It never ceased to amaze him how much of an asshole the Pharaoh was.

A new exile…? OH YES! He got an answer to his problem. He'd just ask this guy to be his life partner and then live their separate lives. That way, Ishizu won't be tittle-tattle and scold him all the time. Besides, life partnering isn't that special, it's only having a matching tattoo with someone else, so Marik's life shouldn't be too bothered by that. In fact, he _could _get someone from town to do it if it weren't for the fact that they've ran away first before he could say anything.

"A new exile? Hell yes!" He exclaimed in excitement as he slumped the boy, who was unexpectedly light, on his shoulder and brought him home.

* * *

"He's waking up…" A voice said gently.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, most honorable sister." A voice said sarcastically.

Yugi woke up and rubbed his eyes, trying to focus his gaze. "Are you feeling better?" A woman asked him as she put a wet cloth on his forehead. "U-Uhn," he nodded. The lady had blue eyes, tanned skin, and jet-black hair. And it also has two locks wrapped with golden beads. She had a smile on her face. "You have a sunstroke, um-"

"Yugi," he supplied. "…Yugi," she nodded. "I reckon you're a new a exile? Welcome to our village. Those who are exiled by the Pharaoh lives here." Yugi tilted his head. "Is this the outcast village near the Valley of the Kings?" He asked.

"The Valley of the Kings is just a few meters away from here, you will be able to see it later." She answered gently. "How do you know about our village?" It was her turn to ask. "My grandpa told me when I was little." Yugi answered weakly. The sun really got into him. "Your grandpa? What's his name?"

"Mutou… Solomon Mutou…"

"Hmm, I've never heard of him…"

"Look, can you stop chitchatting? I have something to say to him here." Suddenly, the sarcastic voice Yugi heard earlier joined their conversation. "Oh, right. I apologize, Marik." The lady stood up and smiled. "Welcome to our family, Yugi." She petted his hair and left the room.

Yugi directed his violet gaze to the man who leaned beside the door. He had lavender eyes, tanned skin, and white hair that pointed to every directions. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and khaki pants. He looked extremely intimidating, but weirdly intoxicating as well.

"I have a problem." He said as he approached the bed. "You see, in this village, everyone has to have a life partner and I don't have anyone who could help me with that." Yugi didn't understand. What's a life partner? And why didn't he have anyone to help him?

The man, Marik, Ishizu-san called him earlier, sat on the bed and moved his face in close proximity to Yugi's own. "That's why I brought you here. I want you to make a deal with me."

"W-what's a life partner?" Yugi asked nervously. "Candidacy to be Pharaoh's slave." Marik shot back. He didn't know if it was sarcasm or not. "It's nothing much. You see, life partner's supposed to be someone to share your pain and suffering with." The man shook his head.

"Why don't you have anyone to help you?" Yugi asked again, he was genuinely curious. "Because everyone's fucking afraid of me! Okay? You son of a bitch, why do you ask so much question?" Marik raged. Yugi flinched, but he didn't cower. Those lavender eyes… despite the veins on his face, it reflected loneliness. And he didn't want to see that.

"I'm sorry…" Yugi apologized. Marik's eyes widened and he looked surprised. "Anyways, being life partner's not that much of work. You only to need to get matching tattoo with me and then that's pretty much it. That time when Ishizu took a guy as her life partner, he didn't have family here, so she made him a part of our family and he lived with us until he went to priesthood. That's pretty much what I'm going to do with you."

"Here's the deal, as an exchange for saving you out there, you have to be my life partner. You're not allowed to refuse." Marik stood up and stared down at Yugi, crossing his arms.

"I wasn't going to refuse…" Yugi mumbled. How could he refuse such a sweet deal? To get a free life under a nice house with a very nice lady as his family with only a tattoo as a payment, and he also get to repay his savior's kindness! This deal had no downside. "I accept your offer, Marik-san." He smiled and offered his hand, as if he was just in the pub, receiving money after his service.

The lavender-eyed man looked at his hand like it was an apparition. He was shocked and confused at the offered hand. "C'mon, if you got a deal, you do handshakes, right?" Yugi said, almost mischievously. The man silently took his hand, and Yugi noticed that it was warmer than most hands he ever touched.

"Um, thanks? Thank you-" The smaller teen smiled at the confused Egyptian. "Yugi." He smiled wider.

Marik looked really hesitant, like Yugi just showed him something really shocking. But nevertheless…

"Thanks, Yugi."

* * *

"It is already that time of the year, Pharaoh."

"That time already, Shimon? The coronation's not a long time ago."

"I'm afraid so, my lord. It's time for you to visit the Valley of the Kings… and the village of the exiles."

* * *

(1) - In the Japanese anime, Marik calls Ishizu with _o-aneue-sama _an extremely polite form of sister. So polite that it's like he's mocking her. But I liked the way he said that, so I made it 'the most honorable sister'.

I watch both English and Japanese version. I found that I love the Japanese better, but I like their names better in English. Yeah I can do that because screw the rules I'm the author. And yes, you just read an abridged reference.


	2. The Eye of Horus

**Chapter 2: The Eye of Horus.**

"My name is Yugi Mutou, pleasure to meet you." Yugi bowed to the people in front of him.

"So you're the one who's going to be Marik's life partner?" A boy with Marik-san's face and yet different hairstyles said as he peered at him curiously. Yugi nodded. "Nice to meet you, Yugi! I'm Malik Ishtar, Marik's older twin bro." He said with a smile. "The guy's behind me is Odion, Odion Ishtar." The bald man behind Malik-san looked surprised at the statement. But then his expression morphed into a pleasant smile. "My name is Odion, I am Master Malik's life partner." Yugi bowed to him.

"And of course you've met Ishizu, right?" Malik said as he gestured to the woman who sat on the head of table's seat. She smiled to Yugi. "You really did accept Marik's proposal, we're so happy for both of you." Yugi didn't really know how to respond to that. It sounded like he and Marik-san were getting married or something. It made his cheeks blushed with a tiny hint of pink.

"You guys make it sound like we're getting married or something." Marik-san entered the room with a bored expression upon his face. He slumped to the seat beside Yugi. Their eyes met and Marik-san rolled his lavender eyes. "Sit down, Yugi," the man said as he yawned. "No need to be so formal. You're going to be my life partner, so you're gonna be part of our family too." The amethyst-eyed boy looked around the table and saw everyone smiling back at him, and then he sat down.

"Welcome back, Marik," Ishizu-san greeted. "I assume you met Kisara already, what did she say?" Marik-san kept on eating until he finished his entire meal. "It's none of your business, most honorable sister." He left the table. Yugi narrowed his eyes. "Is he always like that?" The other members of Ishtar family looked solemn. "Pretty much. Marik is not good with people because of his occasional… _fit_."

"You mean the fact that he sometimes burst out angrily to people?" Yugi asked. Malik widened his eyes. "You seen it already?" Yugi nodded. "Whoa, you've seen it already but you still want to be his life partner…" Malik turned to Odion, who looked astounded. "I will talk to him." Yugi stood up and left the table, chasing Marik-san.

And he found him on the roof, lying lazily with his hands on the back of his head. "How come you and Malik-san wear strange clothing?" Yugi asked with a smile as he sat down beside Marik-san, who looked at him with the same confused expression as the one he wore when Yugi offered his hand.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, but then answered Yugi's question. "We got our supplies from the thieves, not the Pharaoh, apparently, these are the clothing that foreigners wear outside this country." Marik-san explained lazily. "Ah, yeah, to think of it. I wore those kinds of clothing before…" The lavender-eyed man's body perked up, clearly interested at his story.

"I was a foreigner. I landed here in Egypt when my family was swept away by the storm." Marik-san sat up and faced the pale-skinned boy. "It swept all of your family members?" He asked. "No," Yugi shook his head. "I still have my Grandpa with me, and…" Yugi shuddered when he remembered another member, the forgotten member of the Mutou family. He shook his head. It's impossible, that person is dead. "And?" Marik-san asked.

"It's nothing. I still have my grandpa." Yugi smiled.

Marik felt really strange whenever Yugi smiled to him. Nobody did that. Sure, Kisara might throw a smile or two, but not whenever they talked. Malik would smile occasionally, but his frightened and careful expression beat the amount of his smiles. Most honorable sister was the same, and don't get him started on Odion.

Only Yugi.

Yugi was the only one who'd smile whenever they have conversation, even though it's only been a day since they met. Yugi was the only one who didn't cower when he had one of his fits, only surprised. Yugi even agreed to be his life partner even though he had snapped right in front of the utterly fragile-looking boy.

Seriously, he didn't know if it was the truth, but he really thought that it was. Everyone with that pale skin (which currently consisted of Kisara and Yugi) looked so goddamn fragile. Kisara looked like she could faint any moment and Yugi looked like he'd crumble into thousands of pieces if Marik shouted at him.

Which proofed him wrong, of course, Yugi didn't even cower when he burst.

"Kisara said that we should meet next week and she'll give us the tattoo. She also said congratulations." Marik looked up to the stars. "Marik-san," Yugi called his name calmly. Those weird honorifics the smaller boy used felt so foreign, and yet he could feel respect and gratitude whenever Yugi said it. "I'm going to be your life partner, right?" Slowly, Marik turned to face the little boy who had such a pair of warm amethyst eyes upon his childlike demeanor. As cold and hardened lavender met with warm and childlike amethyst, Marik faced the milky-skinned boy properly for the first time.

"We will share our pain and suffering together. Please trust me." Another smile.

Marik was stunned, but then he closed his eyes and laughed. "You're so fucking weird, do you know that?" He petted the boy's tricolored hair and lay back down. Yugi smiled. "Uhn!" They both then lie under the stars together, just talking and talking. Marik never talked that much in his entire life.

When Yugi fell asleep, Marik sighed. "Idiot." He said dismissively, but he pulled the kid closer to himself anyways.

* * *

A week has passed ever since he arrived in Egypt. He couldn't wait to see him, to see Yugi, to see his cutest and loveliest person in the world. Yep, you read it right. _His _Yugi. Because Yugi was his property.

He never let harm befell his beloved Yugi, never. That kid was always hiding behind his back, and he liked it that way. That innocent and beautiful Yugi was afraid of him, but it's okay, afraid or not, Yugi belonged to him anyway.

He kept on walking and walking. He lowered his hood, hiding from those people he didn't care about. He could kill them all, but finding Yugi was the first priority. After the whole Mutou family went missing a few years ago, he had been so driven by anger. That Yugi. Could he possibly attempt to escape him? He won't forgive that.

He entered (more like break and enter) some rich people's tomb and took all the gold he would need for his journey to the capital. He's still far away from the capital, but that's fine.

"Oi, that's my target." A man's gruff voice said from behind him. "Well too bad, I got it before you." He replied tauntingly. "Hmph, don't you know who I am?" The man threw away his hood, revealing a white hair, lavender eyes, and an exotic scar across his eyes. "I don't. Should I?"

"Interesting." The man said with a creepy laugh. "You're a foreigner, huh? I can tell with that skin of yours." He didn't say anything, but kept on glaring on the man's figure. "Wanna join me? I can help you with whatever it is you want to do." He closed his eyes and contemplated. He could use this man not just to get to the capital, but also find Yugi… interesting.

"I'm in." He said with a confident smirk. "Awesome. My name's Bakura, also known as the Thief King. You?" The man asked. He only smirked and jumped down from the golden sarcophagus he'd been sitting on.

"I'm-"

* * *

"I swear that upon this symbol of truth, the eye of Horus, that I shall remain true to my life partner, sharing our pain and suffering together as a whole." Marik watched as Yugi recited the vow with shaky voice. He had seen Marik recite the vow and how Kisara carved the eye of Horus symbol using a hot knife. Yugi had gasped and held Marik's hand tightly the entire time Kisara moved as fast as she could to carve the symbol.

And now, it was Yugi's turn. Marik himself was no stranger to pain; he sometimes caused it to himself just for the fun. But Yugi was probably a total stranger to the world of pain and with that pale skin of his; he'll definitely break in the middle of the ceremony.

"Be strong, Yugi." Marik said as Kisara laid Yugi down. The kid's eyes were teary, but his eyes weren't at Marik's own lavender, it was on Marik's scorching eye of Horus mark on his neck, just underneath his right ear. "Please be ready, Yugi, Marik." Kisara whispered as she put the metal on top of the fire.

"Marik-san… I'm scared…" Tears leaked from Yugi's face. Marik felt a strong urge to take the metal out of Kisara's hands and shove it up the Pharaoh's ass, but he took a deep breath and clenched Yugi's hand. "Don't be." Marik threw away his face as Kisara pressed the hot metal; carving the eye of Horus on the same place she had carved Marik's own.

As the little kid screamed his guts out, Marik couldn't help but vow to himself that he won't ever let Yugi scream like this anymore. He'll protect him, with all he got. There was a twinge of guilt though. He was the one who forced Yugi to be his life partner after all.

Like he'd expected, Yugi passed out in the middle of the ceremony, and he had been the one who carried the small kid to his bed.

Marik never left Yugi's side, knowing that when he woke up, the kid would probably hate him and he'll never be able to thank him from being his life partner. But, Marik was wrong. Horridly wrong.

When Yugi woke up, he smiled weakly to Marik, and asked if he was okay.

Marik then buried his face on the kid's brittle little shoulder, thinking that if this was what Odion felt when Malik thanked him for being his life partner.


	3. The Pharaoh's Arrival

**Chapter 3: The Pharaoh's Arrival.**

"Get Odion for these kind of things, Yugi." Marik-san said, clearly irritated. Yugi pouted, he couldn't help it if he was too short to reach all the places he needed to place the books in. "You're my life partner, not some servant to the Ishtar house. You don't even need to run Ishizu's errands or do Malik's chores." Yugi frowned deeper as he handed some of the books to Marik-san, letting him reach all the high places.

"I want to," he really did. The Isthar Family helped him so much, especially Marik-san. But the others did so much for him as well. Ishizu-san introduced him to Kisara-san and the children of the village. Kisara-san turned out to be a very nice lady who worked as a healer and tattoo-carver simply because she was the only one capable of doing such a fast job without hurting the patient too much.

He heard from Marik-san that Malik-san and Odion-san hadn't been as lucky since Kisara-san hadn't come yet when they decided to be life partners, and they had to suffer from the pain for months (though Marik-san also said that they are morons for choosing to carve the oath of loyalty itself instead of some symbol like they did) while Yugi only suffered of the pain of his tattoo for a few days.

Malik-san and Odion-san were kind as well. Recently, Malik-san had taken him out of the town to see the Valley of the Kings (in which Marik-san hadn't been allowed to come and was locked inside the house, courtesy of Malik-san and Odion-san who only followed his life partner's order). It was a sight to behold, and the man had grinned to him and said that he could ask him about anything. "You're Marik's life partner, so that makes you my and Ishizu's brother!" The man had said with a cheerful tone, and Yugi had smiled and thanked him.

Odion-san was in charge of all the chores in the house and Yugi had taken it upon himself to help him out. The man had been very flustered and he asked him not to worry about the chores, but Yugi only told him that he had fun in doing these chores since it reminded him of his old life with Grandpa, where every day rolled like it was chores after chores.

"On a second thought," Marik-san said, snapping him out of his musing. "Don't get Odion. Just let him do everything and life easily." Yugi sighed at the man's words. Sometimes, Marik-san got territorial about this. Things like "You're my life partner!" and "You're sharing someone else's pain and suffering." were not uncommon between them, but Yugi thought that it was fine.

In fact, he liked being involved with others; it forced Marik-san to be involved as well and therefore, not as alone as he was a few weeks ago.

Yugi had befriended almost everyone in the town, who was surprised to know that there was another member of Ishtar family amongst them. Yugi had come to realize that the Ishtars were like the royalty to this place. Everyone knew and respected them, occasionally fearing them because of a certain spiky haired man.

"Hey, hey, Yugi! You are a member of Ishtar family, right?" One of the children he was reading stories to asked him. "Hmm? Yes, I am." The children all gasped and whoa'd at him, but then, another one asked a question. "How did you become one? Are you Lady Ishizu's life partner?" Yugi's eyes widened to twice its size and eventually smiled at the little girl. "I'm not Ishizu-san's life partner," he said with a small laugh. "Ehhh? Then whose life partner are you? We all know about Malik and Odion, so it can't be them!"

"I'm Marik-san's life partner." He said with a small blush on his face as he covered the eye of Horus under his right ear. Color had drained from the children's face as he scratched his own cheek sheepishly. "M-Marik? As in _the _Marik?" The little girl looked towards her friends nervously. "Like the Crazy Marik? Loony Marik of Ishtar?"

"Hey! Hey! Don't say that-"

"What was that about me you little prick?"

Unfortunately, Marik-san had chose this specific time to pick him up and the children had run away like demons had been chasing them. "You don't need to tell everyone that I'm your life partner, Yugi." Yugi had frowned at the male and shook his head. "It's alright, Marik-san." Yugi said as he touched the eye of Horus and smiled to the older male. "I promised to always remain true to you."

And as always, Marik-san's face twisted into a confused expression before eventually throwing it away from Yugi's sight. "Marik-san?" Yugi asked curiously. "Yeah. Okay brat, let's go home."

That had been his life here in the Exile Village. In the mornings he had breakfast, do his chores, in the afternoons he ate lunch, run some errands for Ishizu-san, and read stories for children, and the evenings he ate dinner and lie under the stars with Marik-san, talking about various things. He had been happy, and everything would be perfect if his Grandpa was here. But Yugi kept on believing that his grandpa would do fine without him.

Little he did know that everything was about to changed by the arrival of a certain Pharaoh.

* * *

If the God, the Pharaoh of Egypt were allowed to whine, he would really do it. The trip taken to the Exile Village had been long and arduous. It made him feel sick and sore everywhere, but it was all in his head. He won't ever whine, after all.

As they passed the Valley of the Kings, Atem looked around for a village. Honestly, he never knew about the existence of the Exile Village until his coronation as the new Pharaoh. Shimon said that only the reigning Pharaoh and his six Sacred Guardians were allowed to know about it.

When he saw a gate, he never felt anymore relieved. He was finally off of this camel and will not sit on it again until next week. Naturally, the whole village bowed down to him, creating a line to the nicest and largest house in the town, where he would probably stay.

When he got down from his ride, he was met with three people whom he had assumed as the people who owned the house.

"I am pleased to welcome you, my great Pharaoh, the Son of Ra, words cannot express how honored we are to be in your presence." The lady with ebony hair said it as if she had trained her whole life to say these words in this particular order. "Please raise your head," Atem commanded. The lady and her family raised and he couldn't hide his shock.

The lady looked like one of his high priestess back home, she looked like Isis!

"My name is Ishizu Ishtar," she bowed once more. "And this is my brother, Malik Ishtar and his life partner, Odion Ishtar." The males behind her bowed as well. "We apologize for the lack of better accommodation here in our village, but our home will have to do."

"Speak no more, I understand your circumstances." The lavender-eyed male tensed, but his life partner put his hand on top of the younger male's shoulder, as if to comfort him.

"Please rest in our home, Odion will show you to your chambers, most exalted Pharaoh."

* * *

Atem marveled at the Ishtar family's residence. It was big indeed, and it apparently had many guest rooms and yet according to the man escorting him, Odion, only five people lived here and all of them were members of the Ishtar family.

"This would be your chamber, Pharaoh, do you need anything else?" The man said calmly. "Oh, yes. I do not feel tired, may I ask you to give me tour around the house?" The older male nodded and led him as he took his stroll.

Nothing interested happened during his stroll, but when he reached the courtyard, he caught a glimpse of his very own tricolored hair and stopped dead on his tracks.

The young male looked exactly like him! But when Atem took a closer look towards the boy, his skin was pearly white and he was way shorter than he was. He also noticed that the boy's face was rounder and he had warm and childlike amethyst eyes instead of cold and piercing crimson.

The boy struggled as he tried to hang the white sheets on the rope that was out of his reach. And Atem dared himself to say that he looked utterly adorable when he tried to do it. The Pharaoh was about to walk to the boy with every intention to help him, only to be bypassed by a man who looked like Malik Ishtar, only with spiky hair and not the neat hairstyle Malik had used.

"I told you to get Odion for this shits, Yugi." Atem was not accustomed to hear such a crude and foul sounding language in his presence. He felt utterly offended about it and he also thought that the amethyst-eyed boy was also offended. But, instead of a scolding, all he heard was a laugh.

"Thank you for helping me, Marik-san." The boy had sounded like a child, and Atem thought that it matched his overall appearance. "Now I would appreciate it if you help me with the rest." The little one lifted the basket that looked even bigger than himself with ease.

"Hey," Atem spoke to Odion, who looked towards the little one with the fondness on his eyes. "Yes, my Pharaoh?" He asked. "Who is he? The little one who looks just like me?"

"His name is Yugi Mutou," Atem could hear fondness and amusement in Odion's otherwise perfectly level voice. "The latest member of the Ishtar family and the owner of the eye of Horus symbol, sworn to always be true to his life partner, Marik Ishtar."

Odion was still speaking, but Atem no longer paid attention to it. He was curious about this young boy, and he will do everything in his power to know him better.

* * *

Atem entered a room that looked like a library, but he didn't expect to see the little one on top of a chair, trying to sort the books out. "Marik-san?" The little one called. Atem said nothing as he kept on staring at the boy's magnificent slender legs tensing as he stood on his fingers. "I'm sorry, but I promised Malik-san I'll do this. Are you okay?" How the little one managed to strike a conversation without seeing his partner confused the Pharaoh, but he didn't mind hearing his lovely voice.

"Ishizu-san is trying her best to keep you out of Pharaoh's sight as long as she could, and Malik-san also said that it's best for me not to see him as well, seeing as it would be suspicious if I appear alone without my life partner. Let's go to Valley of the Kings tomorrow to make you feel better, ne?" The little one turned and faced him, and seeing by the smile on his face, he did not expect to see the Pharaoh at all.

"Ah! By Ra, Pharaoh!" He lost his balance and Atem caught him. "Are you okay, little one?" The little one looked utterly flustered and ashamed, clearly not expecting the Pharaoh himself of all people to hear about this particular subject. "I-I'm sorry!" The little one jumped away from his hold, cowering miserably. "I didn't think it was-"

"Yugi?"

Both men turned around to see a lavender-eyed man on the door, clearly confused. But then his confusion turned into a sheer anger. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!" Again, Atem was not accustomed to someone raising his voice and use such a foul language in his presence. So he could only stand there, frozen for a moment.

"Whose life partner you think you're messing with, huh?" Atem could get a glimpse of an eye of Horus carved under the man's right ear. "Marik-san! He is the Pharaoh!" The little one stood in the middle of the lavender-eyed man and himself. "Well the _Pharaoh_ could just stay the hell away from what's mine then!"

"Marik-san! Calm down!" Yugi said bravely, and Atem could see the eye of Horus carved on the same place where he had seen Marik's own.

"I'm not calming down, Yugi, this bastard _touched _you didn't he?"

"He was helping me because I fell after sorting books in the higher shelf."

"I told you thousands of time to get Odion to do it! Why won't you obey me you son of a-"

"Marik-san!" The little one jumped and put his arms around the lavender-eyed man's neck. "Please, calm down…" The little one looked like he was about to cry. Only then Marik calmed down. But the Pharaoh noticed how his dark lavender eyes gleamed with what he saw as possessiveness. The man's gaze lowered to little one's eye of Horus symbol. Relief flooded to his eyes. He licked the eye of Horus; making Atem narrow his crimson eyes in sheer displeasure, and then ruffled the boy's tricolored hair. "Yeah… yeah… sorry, Yugi."

"I'll get our blankets for us to the roof, okay?" The little one, Yugi, ran away and left them.

"Fucking bastard," Marik stared down at him with utterly cruel-looking eyes. "I don't care who the fuck you are. You can be the Pharaoh or anything, but nobody takes what's mine, _your highness_, **nobody.**" The man wasn't just insolent; he was downright threatening him, the Pharaoh of Egypt, with no shame at all.

"Now if you excuse me, _your highness_," the sarcasm and mockery was so vivid in his tone. "I have something much more important than just singing pleasantries to you." The man left angrily, leaving Atem alone and frozen.

He kind of understood the reason why Ishizu and the other Ishtars did not want Marik or Yugi to meet him. Marik seemed like a crazy lunatic who does not even care that he was in a presence of a Pharaoh. And Yugi was Marik's life partner, someone kind that was not even offended by the man's crude and foul language, dismissed his tantrums with a laugh, and was able to hold off Marik's rage. Clearly, Yugi was someone whom Marik really cherished from the bottom of his heart, someone he will get overly territorial with.

Never, he repeated, _never_ in his life that Atem would ever want something that belongs to someone else so badly.


	4. Playing Games

**Chapter 4: Playing Games.**

Yugi sure was taking his time. Didn't that brat know that he's been waiting for half an hour for that brat to get his ass up here?

Marik stood up, feeling uncomfortable at the 'normal clothing'_ (1)_ that the most honorable sister had forced him to wear. He'd rather be back at his foreigner clothing because it suited him better.

But he shook his head. It's only until that fucking Pharaoh left his territory and got his royal ass back to the capital. Marik had made it clear to Ishizu that he didn't want anything to do with the Pharaoh during his visit. Aside from the fact that Marik didn't want to be his slave, he also said to the most honorable sister that he hated the Pharaoh and won't ever hesitate to kill him if he pissed him off.

The youngest of Ishtar siblings (not counting Odion and Yugi) clicked his tongue, clearly irritated, and went to one single room he knew Yugi would definitely be.

The library. It was Malik's chores (Ishizu told Odion not to do it specifically, saying that it's good for Malik to have chores of his own) to do some tidying up in that section and he never did it. And Yugi, being a goody two shoes that he was, will definitely be there, doing chores that didn't concern him.

Marik entered the room and saw the tricolored hair, but way taller than Yugi, holding another person who was in fact, in Yugi's height. That was practically impossible. Nobody in the house was as tall as Yugi. But, he called to him anyway; he could feel rage spreading underneath his skin. "Yugi?" The confusion and anger in his voice was so thick, but he didn't care.

They both turned to him. Marik was astounded by how remarkably alike these two people were. And then he realized the reason to Yugi's exile; it was the same reason as Ishizu, because he looked like a higher tier member of the society.

Royal asshole.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?!" Marik raged, letting the anger and hatred from within him seeped into his voice. "Whose life partner you think you're messing with, huh?" His entire face twitched in anger. "Marik-san! He is the Pharaoh!" Yugi stood in front of him, hiding the royal behind his small and fragile back. He could see the amethyst-eyed boy trembling slightly. But what angered him even more wasn't the fact that he was trembling. It was the fact that Yugi, _his _life partner, stood up for the very asshole who exiled him.

_And you're my life partner, Yugi, __**mine!**_

"Well the _Pharaoh _could just stay the hell away from what's mine then!" He snapped to Yugi angrily. "Marik-san! Calm down!" The boy was panicking now, clearly noticing the murderous aura, fully intent on killing the Pharaoh, who only stood there frozen. "I'm not calming down, Yugi, this bastard _touched _you didn't he?" He didn't like it. There should be law where life partners were the only one who was allowed to touch one another. He liked the feel of Yugi's pale skin; it was significantly cooler than his own, much like Kisara's oh-so-famous healer hands.

"He was helping me because I fell after sorting books in the higher shelf." This again? He told Yugi, no, he practically _ordered _him to get Odion for the job. Why wasn't he obeying him? Everyone else does! Marik's hand clenched. "I told you thousands of time to get Odion to do it! Why won't you obey me you son of a-"

Before his hands could strike Yugi's face, the boy jumped and put his hands behind his neck, effectively bringing his face to his brittle little shoulder. "Marik-san!" He shouted and cupped his face with his small hands. Amethyst connected with dark shade of lavender, Yugi was close to tears. "Please, calm down…"

He shouldn't. He shouldn't do this. Yugi's face was beautiful and he liked it a lot. Yugi was his, entirely his, so he shouldn't damage his own property. Marik eventually calmed down as he landed his gaze to Yugi's eye of Horus symbol, intricately carved on the same place as his. That was his mark. That was a mark that Yugi belonged to him. Yeah, great.

He licked the mark with his tongue, making it wet. Yugi shuddered, but he didn't cower, a trait Marik really liked from his life partner, his refusal to cower in fear. Marik ruffled the boy's hair and sighed. "Yeah… yeah… sorry, Yugi." When a relieved smile graced his lips, Marik felt a strong urge to just kiss them. But he held it in, utterly confused. He never wanted to kiss someone before.

"I'll get our blankets for us to the roof, okay?" He smiled to him again, and it was his usual smile this time. Marik nodded and the boy left, leaving him alone with the royal asshole.

"Fucking bastard," Marik stared down at the asshole mercilessly. "I don't care who the fuck you are. You can be the Pharaoh or anything, but nobody takes what's mine, _your highness_, **nobody.**" He could see how the Pharaoh looked thoroughly offended, but caring wasn't in his forte at all. Not in anything regarding Yugi.

"Now if you excuse me, _your highness_," he let sarcasm and mockery filled his voice. "I have something much more important than just singing pleasantries to you." And then he left the Pharaoh alone the frozen. It was the idiot's fault. Why didn't he bring his palace guards so he could get all pussy on him? Did he want to play heroes here? Well, Marik won't have it.

When he reached the rooftop, Yugi was already there with their blankets on his lap. "Y-you didn't do anything bad to him, right?" The kid stammered. Marik rolled his eyes and sat beside him, taking one of the blankets and draped it across himself. "Who cares anyways?" He said, as he lay down with his arms open. "I do," Yugi said, still concerned as he lied his head down on top of Marik's arm as per usual. "Shut up, brat, I don't want to talk about him. At least not here." He was sure that he sounded threatening, but Yugi only laughed. "Okay then, Marik-san."

That's more like it. He loved it during nights, when Yugi was tired; he won't be as spunky as he was in the day. Maybe there was a good in his life partner's tendency to work so hard during chores. It made him tired in the nights and much more obedient, much to Marik's pleasure.

* * *

The next morning was all work and no play. Odion brought food to his chamber early, saying that the day in Exile Village started early. Atem didn't really like it, but he didn't care. The palace was suffocating with praises and people he could easily bend to his will. At first, Shimon had opposed to him going alone, but he said he could take care of himself. Eventually, the old man relented, and let him leave with various warnings. The most important one that Atem remembered was the fact that Exile Village was a village full of exiles so they won't exactly be pleasant to Atem, and he found that he liked this place much more than the palace.

People here respected him (minus one person), treated him like a god that he was, but still had that certain pride and spunk that people in the palace lacked.

"Pharaoh," Ishizu Isthar called, snapping him out of his muse. "Here are the lists of life partners we have assigned this year." Ah, yeah, apparently Shimon said that the reason to his visit here was to make sure the life partners system was still established, but before Shimon could finish his entire explanation, Atem had run away from the old man, bored.

He examined the list and found names that caught his interest on the bottom of the list.

_Marik Ishtar._

_Youngest member of Ishtar family, life partnered with Yugi Mutou._

And.

_Yugi Mutou._

_Known as a foreigner, life partnered with Marik Ishtar._

"They are the last one to be life partnered?" Atem asked to the lady, who nodded. "Yugi was exiled a few weeks ago, Marik found him and asked him to be his life partner. Yugi accepted." Ishizu answered warily. "Well, it is fine." The Pharaoh said. "I assume my business here is finished, but I shall stay the full week. You don't mind, do you?" He asked even when he already knew the answer. "Of course not, my Pharaoh." Of course.

When Atem walked out the room, he gazed up to the sky, noticing that it was still morning. He decided to go to the rooftop to enjoy the morning breeze that rarely touched his country.

When he got to the rooftop, he was utterly surprised to see two people there; namely the little one and his life partner cuddled together under two horridly messy blankets with the little one resting on top of the lavender-eyed man's bicep, looking utterly content.

His heart burned.

* * *

"Wait, High Priest Seth!"

"I cannot believe it, Master Shimon! How could you let the Pharaoh went alone to such slums!"

"It is His Majesty's wish-"

"I shall escort him back immediately!"

"High Priest Seth! Wait-"

But the blue-eyed man has gone away, away from Shimon's sight.

* * *

Like everyone in town, one Joey Wheeler was eager to befriend the newest member of the Ishtar family. Not because of the glory or anything, it's just that he really liked new friends. And it was said that the kid was a real swell guy and also a foreigner, the exact same reason why he was exiled.

He never knew what to think about the Pharaoh. To exile someone just because they're foreigner was somehow odd. Well, Joey didn't really mind himself, since he was seen with the Thief King Bakura and all (and he was one of the thieves too before he decided to settle down), but exiling people like Kisara? That was just odd.

During one of his stroll in the village, he met someone short with the weirdest hair he'd ever seen. A hair he was utterly familiar with. "Yugi? Yugi Mutou of Mutou pub?" He had asked, and the kid looked surprised. "Oh, Joey-san! Joey Wheeler-san!" The blond held his urge to laugh to no avail. He head-locked the kid playfully. "Long time no see, Yug!"

There was a history between them.

As he mentioned before, Joey was a member of Ghouls, a band of thieves led by the great Thief King Bakura himself. Mostly because those guys were the one who found him washed up in the shores of Egypt after a boat ride gone wrong. Seriously, something must be up with those seas, they kept on getting rages and storm to wash people up in Egypt and it's not even funny anymore.

When he was in the middle of mission in the capital, he was met with economical difficulties. He ended up in a dark alley, it was hot, dry, and he was really thirsty. He thought that he might need to steal something from some weak-looking kid with cloak that passed by, but he didn't need to.

The weak-looking kid came to him in dark alley, with white and pearly pale skin hidden underneath a worn-out cloak. Ah, that kid was also a foreigner. He approached Joey with water on a jug. "Are you okay?" The boy's Arabic sounded weird. It was laced with an accent that Joey had only heard from Bakura's life partner, Ryou Shirogami, before.

"Here, have some water." The kid offered him the water and he gulped it down within the second. The boy giggled. "Thanks, kiddo." He said gratefully and clearly cheerful since he already got water. But his stomach growled, making him blush in embarrassment. The kid took off his cloak and offered it to Joey, who stared at him dumbly.

The kid had the craziest hairdo he'd ever seen, but it didn't take the blond away from his pale white skin and round childish face. His eyes were colored amethyst, one of the rare among the rarest. It was simply beautiful.

"Let's go, um-"

"Joey, Joey Wheeler." He said, clearly noticing what the kid was searching for. He smiled and gestured Joey to put on the cloak. "Where to?" The blond asked as he put the hood on. He was worried about the kid, since he was also a foreigner with unusual skin tone, but he didn't see the kid panicking at all. So he thought that he's fine.

"My family owns a small pub, we can get some food there, Wheeler-san." Wheeler-san. Okay, so he was sure now that this kid came from where Ryou came from. The way they use honorifics were the same and all. "Just Joey, uh-"

"Yugi. Yugi Mutou." The kid led the way; he used the alleys and everything, only popping out on a street where everything was less crowded. "Welcome to my home, Joey-san." He said with a smile on his face.

"Yugi! Welcome back, kid!"

"Here comes my favorite waiter, c'mere and serve us some wine!"

The Egyptians all looked friendly, but Joey didn't dare to take off his cloak. Yugi gestured him to sit on the bar. "Hai, hai, I'll get to your orders." Yugi was smiling wide at all of them, who laughed. "Grandpa, please fix Joey-san some food, okay?" After that, Joey had his first free-without-stealing meal ever, and it tasted so damn good too.

As he went to do the mission, he told himself that he wouldn't ever forget the Mutou's hospitality towards him. If only he knew that the newest Ishtar was one Yugi Mutou, he would have jumped to the mansion weeks ago.

Nowadays, Joey would spend the afternoon with his best friends, Malik and Yugi- if the kid wasn't too busy doing Ishtar chores or being with Loony Marik. And felt absolutely content about it.

In just about time, he met with his best friend and his life partner. "Hey Yug! Where are you going?" He asked casually, ignoring the irritated glare from the dark lavender-eyed man. "Hi Joey!" The blond smiled at this. Ryou once told him that if someone from his country referred to somebody else without honorific, that meant they felt close to this somebody else. "Marik-san and I were just going out to the Valley of the Kings."

"That's awesome! Mind if I-"

"Everyone! Hide!" Kisara, brittle Kisara, ran towards them. She also asked everyone else in the village to return inside their houses. "Whoa whoa whoa! What's up, Kisara?" Joey asked the woman, who looked like she was about to faint. "It's… it's one of the Sacred Guardians!"

Yugi was the first one to gasp. "Ah, sorry, Kisara-san, Joey-san, Marik-san and I are just going to leave now, okay? Bye bye!" The little kid ran away, pulling his life partner with him. "Great choice. Little Yugi knew that Marik won't ever bow to a sacred guardian and will most likely cause trouble. Please get inside, Joey, I don't feel too good about this."

Instead of heeding Kisara's words, Joey ran to the gate, preparing to confront this punk of a priest who dared to come to their village uninvited. Only those who got invited by the Ishtar (this includes the Pharaohs, of course) or those who got exiled may enter this village!

"Joey!" Kisara shouted desperately as she followed the blond to the gate, intercepting the blue-eyed priest. "Where is the Pharaoh, filth? I hope you have not harm him by breathing too close to the king of our holy land." The man said, brandishing the golden stick to Joey's face.

"What the- I'm not a filth! And for your info, we have our own way to show hospitality!" Joey said hotheadedly as the priest made his way down his horse and stared him down. "I will ask you once again, where is the Pharaoh, mutt?" Kisara held Joey's sleeve, trying her best to calm the second-most (first got taken by Marik) reckless person in the Exile Village. "Joey, please calm down!" Kisara urged.

"I'm not a freaking mutt!" Joey spat to the priest's face. "You dare… you dare to spit on the face of the holy priest?" The man gripped his golden stick harsher. Suddenly, a golden piece of jewelry (at least, both Kisara and Joey thought) on his harm extended and a spirit of a swordsman hovered on top of them. "Shadow Spirit!" Kisara gasped. "Well, isn't it just a fucking interesting game?" Joey closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "Joey, no!"

But it was all too late. A black majestic dragon appeared in front of Joey, taunting the swordsman with its leering red eyes.

"How about a duel, asshole?" Joey clicked his tongue.

The priest looked shocked, but then his lips curled into that of a smirk.

"I shall beat you in your own game, mutt."

* * *

(1) – In the first chapter, I described Marik in his khaki pants and sleeveless black shirt and Yugi thought that it was strange (and for those who think that having them in this time period is weird… Let's just say that the outer world where the foreigners come from is a more modern world XD). That's why on the second chapter; he asked, "How come you and Malik-san wear strange clothing?" referring to their modern clothing. What I meant by normal clothing here is the one piece dress Malik and Ishizu uses during their childhood. See it in the anime; I don't know how I could explain it perfectly DX


	5. Exiled Dragons and Aquatic Threat

**Chapter 5: The Exiled Dragons and the Aquatic Threat.**

"Dragons."

"What? You fancy dragons now?" Bakura rolled his eyes to the only healer he had in Ghouls, and this healer happened to share the Djed – the symbol of Osiris, not the dragon god, but the one who rules the underworld – tattoo on the same place as his, the shoulder blade. "I should have known that you wanted to have dragons and not Djeds, Ryou."

Ryou Shirogami huffed, but didn't press the subject, as he knew that his life partner was just teasing him. "Anyways, what's up with Dragons?" The Thief King asked. "It's Wheeler-san." With only a name, Bakura groaned. "It's in the desert, right? Not the town." Crap. If it really was in the town, Ishizu will bombard him with thousands of 'where are you? The town needs you!' message. And judging from Ryou's expression, he knew that he was true.

"What is it?" The newest addition of Ghouls asked him. "It's nothing. Ryou. We don't know this. You don't have any hunch that this happened." Disbelief flashed on Ryou's eyes, but he eventually didn't say anything. "If Wheeler's gone out of control, there's always Kisa and Marik. Their Spirit won't lose to anyone."

With that, the Thief King went to the next tomb, further away from the Valley of the Kings

* * *

"What is that?!" Yugi gasped when he saw a black dragon appearing in the middle of the town, all the way from the Valley. "That's the Black Dragon, Wheeler's Shadow Spirit." Marik-san looked excited, he licked his lips and grabbed Yugi's wrist. "E-eh?" Yugi stammered, confused.

"Never seen them before?" Marik-san said as he licked his lips and looked at the enormous Black Dragon with a creepy mixture of excitement and pure evil. "No…" Yugi muttered, but before he could say anything else, his life partner had dragged him- literally- back to town. Marik-san was sneering, clearly excited and somehow, he knew that he won't be able to get Marik-san away from trouble this time.

* * *

"Joey, stop this!" Kisara was still pleading to her hotheaded friend. While she wasn't approving of the Priest's method just like her blond friend, she clearly wasn't approving Joey's way to settle this problem. It didn't seem to end the problem, because apparently the Priest was also a kind of person who would rise to the occasion.

"DUEL!"

"Duos, slay this dragon with your Aura sword!" The aura swordsman moved swiftly as it made its way to the Black Dragon. Kisara, who eventually thought that nothing would stop her friend from having a good duel, clasped her hands together in a prayer.

"Trap Prayer: Trap Hole!" She said softly, and the aura swordsman fell into a pit. "What is that?!" The Priest looked astoundedly at Kisara, who kept muttering her prayers. "A trick you stuck-ups won't understand." Joey huffed. "Red Eyes! Let's kill this bastard!" The black dragon let out a cry of happiness and nuzzled its enormous head to the blonde's neck. "Kisara, please."

Kisara nodded and closed her blue eyes once more, muttering more of chants than before. "Magic Prayer: Dragon Treasure!" The Black Dragon roared and grew even larger than it was before. "What is this sorcery?!" The Priest roared as he felt his life force being drained away, his Duos was gone. "Told ya. A trick you rich people won't get. Magic Prayer: Dian Keto the Cure Master." Instantly, the Priest was healed again.

"Stand up, _priest_. Let's go at it again," The Priest stood up hastily and gripped the golden stick tighter, calling even more shadows and summon upon another monster. "Minotaurus, I summon thee!" A large ox with axe suddenly appeared, replacing the aura swordsman. "Red Eyes, kill it!"

"Not so fast!" The priest's golden stick glowed and the ox turned larger, it killed Joey's dragon fair and square. "Joey!" Kisara shouted as her friend's Shadow Spirit went away. "Magic Prayer: Dian Keto the Cure Master!" The blond's ragged figure turned a little bit healthier, but he was still unconscious.

"Hmph, pathetic mutt." The priest murmured. Kisara lied the blond down and stood up; perfectly masked anger was on her face. "Please leave," she said coldly. "Please don't make me summon my spirit."

"Hmph, you think you can win against the power of my Minotaurus and my Millennium Rod?" The priest taunted. Kisara nodded. "I very much can." Her entire body glowed a blue light, but before she could summon her dragon, an insane-sounding cackle echoed. "A fight, _do _let me join." Panic rose to Kisara's head. Yugi wasn't able to stop _him_.

"Kisa, catch." He threw the small tricolor haired teen to her direction. "Yugi!" She said as they both fell down, Yugi looked utterly horrified. "Kisara-san… Marik-san… I can't… He-"

"It's okay, it's okay, little Yugi." She hugged the young boy protectively, whispering soothing words to the little boy's ear. Yugi really did bring the 'protective sister' feel for both her and Ishizu, who already had two younger brothers and an older brother.

"Another lunatic. State your name, mutt!" Marik only cackled as he raked his nail on his skin, drawing blood. She knew that it was one of the crudest ways to summon one's spirit. In fact, nobody did that but Bakura, the patron of the town. "Name's not important, _priest_." Marik spat the word like it was cursed. "What important is, I'm summoning my Shadow Spirit, Revival Jam!" A weak-looking monster shot up from the shadows. And Kisara had to gulp down all her anxiety. This wasn't the duel she normally played with the boy just to calm his rage down, this was a very serious duel. And the priest was laughing, something Joey did before Marik played his signature Immortality-Torture and sent the blond down to Kisara's ward.

"Trap Prayer: Metal Reflect Slime!" Marik was praying, and his spirit changed into the aqua version of her own White Dragon. Marik snickered. "What is that?" The priest asked, clearly surprised. "Nothing you should worry about," Marik licked his lips, his face contorted into what Kisara know as pleasure.

"Then Minotaurus, attack that monster!" The ox slayed his axe to Marik's spirit, and its aquatic body was destroyed to thousands of pieces. A smug smile made its way to the priest's lips, but Marik only laughed as his monster returned. "Oh please, _priest_! Is that the best you can do?!" The monster returned in its aquatic glory.

"That is impossible! Do it again, Minotaurus!" The ox kept on slaying the aquatic dragon, but it always returns. "If you're done, now is my turn!" Marik chanted a spell and Kisara felt her chest tightened and her head spinning. Marik was stealing her dragon's power and she felt it. "C'mon Slime Dragon, Aqua Burst Stream of Destruction!"

The dragon shot a huge blast of water to the priest's ox, but its power wasn't enough to kick the priest down. "I'm sorry, I missed! I will aim properly to your chest now, _lord priest!" _And that he did. "MARIK! DON'T KILL HIM!" Kisara was running, trying to shield the priest. She didn't like the fact that this priest had treated her home like scum, but it didn't mean that she wanted him killed.

But the little boy who was in her arms just earlier ran forward and shield the priest from the fatal blow. "YUGI!" Kisara screamed as the huge blast of water made its contact with the little boy directly, dispersing the water into two directions and therefore shielding the priest from attack.

"What…?" The priest whispered as the boy collapsed to the ground. Kisara immediately went to Yugi and put his head on her lap. She put her hands on top of the boy's chest, trying to ease his breathing and dispel any shadow magic that Marik had inserted within the attack. "You!" She screamed to the dumbfounded priest. "If you're a priest, then HELP him!" The priest scampered to her side and put his hands on top of hers, helping her to dispel the shadows.

"Are you… okay?" Yugi asked to the priest weakly. His eyes fluttered, trying to find the priest. "Fool! You did not need to save me!" The priest seethed. "I didn't… do it to save you…" He coughed out some water. "I did it… so Marik-san won't have to be… a killer…" With what little energy he had left, Yugi tried to look at his life partner, who stood in absolute shock behind Kisara.

"He's okay…" There was a smile as the Amethyst eyes closed, and Marik's screams echoed within the entire village.

* * *

Trap prayers and Magic prayers are like the Trap and Magic cards in this fic. I always think that it's strange… there's a past form of monsters and yet there's no past form of traps and magic? That's weird...


	6. His and His Alone

**Chapter 6: His and His Alone.**

"MARIK! CALM DOWN!"

"DESTROYING THE HOUSE WON'T MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER!"

"WELL LET ME SEE HIM THEN! DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU, ISHIZU?!" Malik flinched when his younger twin grabbed Ishizu by her neck. "Master Marik, please calm down-!" Marik's dark-lavender glared at Odion with sheer hatred. "You're the last person I want to hear anything from, Odion." He hissed dangerously.

"M-Marik, let go of Ishizu…" Malik asked his younger sibling. Before Yugi came, Malik was the only other person besides Kisara he actually listened to in the middle of his rage. "Marik, please, I can hear your voice all the way from inside." Kisara came out from Yugi's room, looking calm but exhausted.

"KISARA! How is he?" Marik asked, grabbing Kisara by her shoulders (and therefore letting go of Ishizu). "He will be fine. Anzu's inside now, healing him. My spirit's affinity is not for healing, after all." Kisara sighed. "I think the reason why he is still not waking is because it was his first time exposed to such a large amount of shadow magic. It's such a sheer luck that he isn't dead by your attack yet, Marik."

"So, Yugi's now in the shadow realm?" Malik asked, sounding afraid. Kisara nodded. "I'm afraid so… well, I think I will ask Anzu to guide him back-"

"No."

Kisara narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?" She asked. Marik clenched his fists so tight that they started to bleed. "_I'll _get him back. He's my life partner. Besides, I don't think Devlin would have liked it if I endanger his life partner."

"Since when do you even care if Duke like what you did or not?" Malik asked under his breath. "That's enough, Malik." Ishizu said, resuming her position as the head of Ishtar family. "Marik, you've never done this. Even though you do not like me, I am still your sister and your safety is in my best interest. I do agree that you should go because you're Yugi's life partner, but I also think that it's best if we leave it to Anzu because she travelled the shadow realm before."

"Most honorable sister, I love you," Ishizu gasped, clearly taken aback by her youngest brother's statement. "I love you so much I sometimes want to kill you… it's the same with Malik too. It's just what my instincts told me to do. But this is the first time in my life that… that my instinct told me to go the shadow realm and save him, not to kill him! I'm going, Ishizu, and you're not going to stop me." Nobody in the room could move after what Marik said.

The dark lavender-eyed man entered the room where his life partner was panting and shivering under a blanket. A girl with lightly tanned skin and blue eyes looked up to him, surprised. "Loony- I mean, Master Marik…" Anzu said as she took a deep breath.

"Thanks for healing him, woman." Marik said, not looking at her at all. "You can go now. I'll take over from here." But Anzu stayed and shook her head. "You're going to the shadow realm, right?" Marik looked at her. And even without nodding, she smiled. "I don't know you're such a good person, Master Marik. You're willing to go there to find Yugi, ne?"

"I summon my spirit, Magician of Faith." A pink-haired magician appeared, hovering over Yugi. "Place your hand on top of his head, Master Marik." When she was about to guide his hand to Yugi's sweaty forehead, he slapped her hand away. "I… Don't touch me." Anzu smiled, understanding the fact that Marik was unaccustomed to people being kind to him.

Marik touched Yugi's forehead and felt how cold it was immediately. He looked towards Anzu, who was chanting some prayer to her Magician of Faith. "Once you get there, you need to find him. And you need to convince him to return to the real world. I will have to remind you that he will act without any restraints there, he will act like how he is without common sense or anything." Marik nodded. "When you convinced him, summon your Revival Slime so it could guide you back here. I will open the portal. Good luck."

With a smile from Anzu and her Magician of Faith, Marik delved into the darkness.

* * *

The place was foggy, but Marik was no stranger to the purple clouds.

After all, he liked the shadow realm; he'd visited here on many occasions (outside of Ishizu's knowledge, of course). When his instincts took over for him, he resided here. But this shadow realm was different than anything he had seen before.

It was cloudy all right, but it wasn't as thick as it usually was. And as he walked the void, he was met with a pure-white door.

This must be where Yugi was, he could tell by how his Eye of Horus was scorching under his ear.

Taking a deep breath, Marik opened the door. He didn't know what to expect since he never came to someone else's shadow realm, but when he surely didn't expect anyone's shadow realm to look like… _this_.

He was in a room of pure white with blotches of colors here in there. He felt pleasant when he saw the yellow, green, and blue but he felt irritated and angry when he saw the purple, black, and other splotches of dark colors. The room was spacious, and had various toys and dolls scattered here and there. The most noticeable one was a humongous dragon doll with red stones all over it, and there were other dolls as well. A small swordsman was on the corner of the room, but there were other dolls there with the same swordsman, only a growing at each phase.

"Dare?" A voice- _Yugi's _voice, speaking a foreign language that Marik had never heard before. "Dare desuka, Onii-san?" When Marik brought his attention to the farthest corner of the room, he saw his life partner- a very much smaller version of him, at least.

The kid was… _cute_. The smaller Yugi hugged a small magician and a pink-furry monster with huge blue eyes. He was leaning to a much bigger version of the magician he was hugging. Big, wide (even wider than the usual Yugi's own) and utterly adorable-look amethyst orbs looked at Marik with sheer innocence and curiosity. He gestured Marik to come closer.

"Asobitai nanoka, Onii-san?" Marik wanted to click his tongue. He didn't appreciate his life partner using a language he didn't understand. But Anzu's words filled him. This was Yugi. The true essence of Yugi's soul. The kid looked so Ra-damned fragile, who knows what'll happen if he as much as _raised his voice _here.

With a wide smile on his face, the smaller Yugi gave him the pink-furry monster as he cradled the magician one with his small arms. When the magician fell, he giggled cutely.

As much as Marik would have liked to indulge in the kid's innocent presence (which contradicted his own malicious one), he put the pink-furry doll on the floor and scooted closer. "Come back, Yugi." He said sternly, and very awkwardly, as he never spoke to a kid requiring intense care before. Yugi seemed to understand him, because the kid tilted his head as he frowned.

"Doushite?" _Why. _Marik knew the kid would ask. "Because this isn't your world. Come back, the real world needs you. _I _need you." He felt… weird, and somehow disgusted at himself for saying such a thing. But, when the smaller Yugi scooted even closer and hugged him, he instantly felt better about what he just did.

"Why though?" Yugi whispered, using the Arabic he was familiar with. "I'm happy here, and if you stay here… you'll be happy too!" Fear flashed briefly on the kid's eyes before being replaced by sheer warm and content. And also a glint of determination to keep Marik here.

"Look, kiddo, I get it." Marik ruffled the kid's soft hair. "You're scared of the shadow powers. You _did _get a full-blast of my aqua move. But I assure you… You're mine, and I don't let anyone else harm my things." _Anyone else. But that excludes me. _"Yours?" The kid asked, biting at his lower lip as he did so. "Yeah. Mine, and mine alone."

Not even the Pharaoh, his damned priests, or even the whole Egypt will fuck around with him. This kid was _his_. Yugi Mutou had burrowed his way into people's hearts in the past few weeks. But none of them would be able to have him, because he was his life partner. _His_.

A proud smirk made its way to Marik's face before kissing the kid on his forehead. "Leave it to me, kiddo." He said, ignoring the constant itching of the Eye of Horus under his ear.

"_If it's you… we can entrust Master to you…"_

The kid in front of him turned into the magician Yugi was hugging earlier. The entire room lit up and cheered, they all said the same thing: _"If it's you…" _

Foreign emotions: such as joy and fulfillment flowed into Marik's nerves. He had never feel something like this before. Someone depended on him. That was more than enough.

Suddenly, the room shattered into pieces, leaving only he and the little magician… only, it wasn't little anymore.

A fully-grown magician with white robes and silver hair was beside him, smiling. "You're… Yugi's shadow spirit." The spirit gave a simple nod. _"I am Silent Magician." _The magician's voice echoed within his head. _"Go, my Master's life partner. He is just over there." _The magician pointed to the darkness, where his life partner was searching in the dark.

Marik gave one last look to the magician, who nodded with a smile. The platinum-blond haired male ran to the lost kid and grabbed him on the shoulder. "A-ah?!" Yugi asked, clearly confused. "It's me, kid. Let's go home." Marik's hand gripped Yugi's wrist, clearly unwilling to let go.

The kid gave a relieved smile and a content sigh. "Marik-san…" he whispered gratefully. Marik summoned Revival Slime, who brought them back to where Anzu and Duke was with their spirit out in the waiting, clearly opening the portal from which he came out from.

Pretty much everyone was in the room, even the _Pharaoh _and his _fucking Priest_. They all shouted his name, but he couldn't care less.

When he felt a grip tighten around his hand, Marik turned around to see his life partner sleeping with a tear and a smile upon his face, a small transparent magician hovered on top of him protectively. The magician smiled to Marik. _"Yours." _It said with sheer confidence.

"Mine." Malik replied with the same undeterred confidence as he ran a hair through his life partner's tricolored hair. Of course, he purposefully made it loud enough for a certain Pharaoh to hear.

* * *

Japanese:

Dare? - Who?

Dare desuka, Onii-san? - Who are you, big brother?

Asobitai nanoka, Onii-san? - Do you want to play, big brother?

Doushite? - Why?


End file.
